Fuel cells have been proposed as a power source for electric vehicles and other applications. In proton exchange membrane (PEM) type fuel cells, hydrogen is supplied to an anode of the fuel cell and oxygen is supplied as an oxidant to a cathode. A typical fuel cell system includes a plurality of fuel cells stacked together in a fuel cell stack. Typically, numerous fuel cell stacks are required to power a fuel cell powered vehicles. Large amounts of hydrogen, stored in fuel tanks on an undercarriage of the vehicle, are supplied to each of the fuel cell stacks to power the vehicle.
Current fuel cell systems include a valve mechanism associated with an inlet and a bleed conduit of the anode subsystem of each fuel cell stack. As many as eight valve mechanisms may be required to properly supply hydrogen to and bleed hydrogen from the fuel cell stacks. Each valve mechanism may include associated components, such as an injector, a solenoid, and a control system, for example. Numerous valve mechanisms and associated components occupy a relatively large amount of space in the fuel cell vehicle.
It would be desirable to develop an improved anode subsystem valve mechanism adapted for selectively providing a hydrogen flow to and selectively bleeding the hydrogen from a plurality of fuel cell stacks.